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Pictures... or it DID happen!

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TmC47

TmC47

Nice guy
Maybe I'm being paranoid, but I've seen a few jpg's posted by members that contain basic (or advanced) EXIF-data such as what make of camera has been used for the picture.
Often, a make of smart-phone comes up (which I can disclose, because it's Apple :lol:). Now, with todays integration of VARIOUS data the user may not even be aware of (GPS data, phonenumber, serial#'s of the phone, exact date and time of exposure, for instance) would it not be prudent to have some kind of EXIF-scrubber have a go at any posted pic before it actually shows up on the site? Just to protect members AND the site?
I realize it's the users responsibility to do this him/her-self, but all it takes is some over-zealous enforcement-officer to use it, and smear the Nexus's name all over the tabloids. Not to mention that it could be used in court.
Does anybody share my concern?

Peace!
 
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Ive heard that Facebook automatically scrubs the exif from any pics that are uploaded. Perhaps it would be worth suggesting that to the traveler for the nexus... I have no idea what is involved in making that happen though.
 
Any pictures that you upload to the DMT-Nexus forum are already stripped of their EXIF data before they are stored on the server.

However, pictures that are linked from an external site with the tag are of course not hosted on the DMT-Nexus, and as such are not altered in any way. Stripping these external images on the fly would unfortunately cost too much resources.


Kind regards,

The Traveler
 
The Traveler said:
Any pictures that you upload to the DMT-Nexus forum are already stripped of their EXIF data before they are stored on the server.

However, pictures that are linked from an external site with the tag are of course not hosted on the DMT-Nexus, and as such are not altered in any way. Stripping these external images on the fly would unfortunately cost too much resources.


Kind regards,

The Traveler[/quote]

I agree that external services cannot be cencored, but I got this off a picture that is on the Nexus I'm sure of:
[quote=Anonymous JPEG]
Standard Information
Make: Apple
Model: iPhone 4
Software: 4.3.5
ImageSize: 1023x764
ComponentsConfiguration: Y, Cb, Cr, -
CreateDate: 2012:01:05 22:12:39
ModifyDate: 2012:01:05 22:12:39
DateTimeOriginal: 2012:01:05 22:12:39
ExposureTime: 1/15"
Aperture: F2.8
ExposureProgram: Program AE
MeteringMode: Multi-segment
Flash: Auto, Did not fire
ISO: 500
WhiteBalance: Auto
FocalLength: 3.9 mm
FocalLength35efl: 3.9 mm
SensingMethod: One-chip color area
ColorSpace: sRGB
Sharpness: Hard

GPS Information

Other Information
ApertureValue: 2.8
BitsPerSample: 8
ColorComponents: 3
Compression: JPEG (old-style)
Directory: *************
EncodingProcess: Baseline DCT, Huffman coding
ExifByteOrder: Big-endian (Motorola, MM)
ExifImageHeight: 1936
ExifImageWidth: 2592
ExifVersion: 0221
ExposureMode: Auto
FNumber: 2.8
FileModifyDate: 2012:01:08 11:45:16+01:00
FileName: photo2.jpg
FileSize: 201 kB
FileType: JPEG
FlashpixVersion: 0100
ImageHeight: 764
ImageWidth: 1023
JFIFVersion: 1.02
LightValue: 4.6
Orientation: Horizontal (normal)
ResolutionUnit: inches
SceneCaptureType: Standard
ShutterSpeed: 1/15
ShutterSpeedValue: 1/15
SubjectArea: 1295 967 699 696
ThumbnailLength: 7919
ThumbnailOffset: 686
XResolution: 72
YCbCrPositioning: Centered
YCbCrSubSampling: YCbCr4:2:0 (2 2)
YResolution: 72
[/quote]

I can see the date and time (in the evening in January). I can see what I interpret as daylight in the picture and he hasn't used his flash, which puts the maker deep on the southern hemisphere of the earth. I can see he hasn't updated his iPhone in a while (4.3.5 has been superseded a few months ago). This data alone already narrows it down way too much, in my opinion.

Note that the GPS-info field is blank. But a lot *is* there and the blank field may simply be a matter of that user forbidding the internal camera access to the GPS. In other cases, however... If someone makes his pics thru some kind of twitter-app and then copy/pastes from his personal account for instance because he can't be arsed into connecting his phone to his computer, are we SURE that nothing nasty passes on?
Please understand that not everyone is equally savvy in these matters, not realizing what they divulge about themselves, and the above example proves that some info is retained. And if the next software update of the smart-phone brings even more personal info in the file, it'll be a race to stay one step ahead of such updates. Why not find a tool that strips [u][i][b]everything [/b][/i][/u]but the picture itself?

On the other hand, if people photograph a mirror by accident, no amount of zeal will save them :twisted:

Peace!
Click to expand...
 
I remember a time someone posted a picture of themselves on 4chan with their face censored and the kind people of /b/ not only used the thumbnail technique to repost the pic with the censorship removed from the face but also used the exif data to infer the persons location and from that found her facebook account... The rest of the story is self explanatory, lol.

So yeah exif data is potentially a serious problem which many people wouldn't even know exists. Perhaps a warning box which require the uploader to acknowledge the risk when they attempt to post a remotely hosted pic here?

We could be making a mountain out of a mole hill here though since its never been an issue so far.
 
Yeah, no need in exaggerating a non-existent problem. It just occurred to me out of the blue, and looking at a few pics I just thought I'd share.. I did see that 'old-and-wise' members have considerably less EXIF data in their pics, so experience does pay off here. Not using your phone for pics pays off too!
Cheers!
 
TmC47 said:
The Traveler said:
Any pictures that you upload to the DMT-Nexus forum are already stripped of their EXIF data before they are stored on the server.

However, pictures that are linked from an external site with the tag are of course not hosted on the DMT-Nexus, and as such are not altered in any way. Stripping these external images on the fly would unfortunately cost too much resources.


Kind regards,

The Traveler[/quote]

I agree that external services cannot be cencored, but I got this off a picture that is on the Nexus I'm sure of:
[quote=Anonymous JPEG]
...
[/quote]

[/quote]
Are you sure this was an uploaded image and not an image that was linked with the [img] tag? Can you give me the URL to that post (if needed by PM)?


Kind regards,

The Traveler
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Thats really cool Trav :)

I always scrub my images, but the fact that the sever does it makes me feel safer. I know the 4channers have been able to get personal info drom certain exif data in the past, so I'm pretty sure law enforcement can.

Thanks for always thinking of the safety of the Nexus members Trav - you are a star!

Peace

PW
 
The Traveler said:
Are you sure this was an uploaded image and not an image that was linked with the tag? Can you give me the URL to that post (if needed by PM)?

Kind regards,

The Traveler[/quote]

Oops! :shock: I see you're right. It was on photobucket. I did not realize that I would not see the difference between external host's and Nexus's pics. Thought I'd see some kind of border around it or some such I did, like I've often seen on other, less savvy boards. My bad, sorry to make a fuss and yes, agreeing with PrimalWisdom: Traveler, you're a star! Good to know that these things have been thought of waaaay before.

Peace (pretty please? :oops:)
Click to expand...
 
That's good to know exif data is scrubbed off uploaded photos here. I erase it myself before uploading which is not too hard for you guys to do if some don't know.. I use photoshop. Just open the pic you want to scrub with p.s. and go to File > save for web and devices. There is an option on the right that says "Metadata." You just need to select "none,"You resize if you need to and thts it! No more exif data..
 
I think you raise a very important issue of privacy. I don't know if that information can be used for prosecution, but surely do I get an uneasy feeling posting more-than-necessary information to the internet.

Some sites such as imgur (which I use) already remove metadata from the pictures.
 
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